How to Create an Eco Garden

John Walker is an award-winning gardening and environmental writer with over 40 years' experience in horticulture, teaching and garden media. He trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he was awarded the Kew Diploma in Horticulture. He was features/deputy editor of Garden Answers magazine, and contributing editor of Kitchen Garden magazine. His long-running `Digging Deeper' column, exploring the connections between gardening and our environment, first appeared in Organic Gardening magazine in 2006. John also writes about greener gardening for national newspapers and magazines in the UK including The Telegraph and the Royal Horticultural Society's journal The Garden. He wrote Weeds: An Earth-Friendly Guide to their Identification, Use and Control, and The Bed & Border Planner, and contributed to the Garden Organic Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. John has made an earth-friendly eco garden in his home in north Wales. He has won the British Garden Media Guild Environmental Award three times. He can be found at www.earthfriendlygardener.net.

• Introduction Gardening and the environment Climate-friendly gardening Eco garden greenprints Eco-fitting your gardenCity courtyard gardenIntensive food gardenEco allotment Dry garden Rain garden Eco garden basics Establishing an ecosystem Choosing toolsChoosing compostTypes of container Sowing seedsFeeding your plantsPest barriers and deterrents Slugs and snails Companion and mixed plantingUsing and controlling weeds Tackling tough weeds Soil care and composting Improving your soilSoil cultivationChoosing and using a mulch Sheet mulchingThe importance of composting Cool compostingComposting with wormsLeaf mouldHarvesting sunlight and rainRenewable gardeningUsing a sunny wallGreenhouses and polytunnelsGreen manures or cover crops Water in the gardenHarvesting and storing water Watering techniques Food gardeningPlanet-friendly food Planning a food garden Sowing vegetables Planting vegetables Sprouting seeds and microgreens Vertical vegetables and fruitsGrowing potatoes Fruit in containers Growing tree fruits Boosting biodiversity Why garden biodiversity matters Encouraging wildlifeAttracting beneficial insects Self-seeding plants Making a simple pond Transforming your lawn Building an insect hotel Sustainable landscaping What is sustainable landscaping Choosing sustainable materialsEco paths and pavingLiving or green roofs Sustainable fences and screens Directory of eco-friendly plants Eco-friendly annualsEco-friendly perennials Eco-friendly shrubs and climbers Eco-friendly hedging plants Eco-friendly trees Eco-friendly annual vegetables Eco-friendly bush and tree fruits Eco-friendly herbs Eco-friendly pond and bog plants Calendar of care Further information Index Acknowledgements